Who Is Anakin Skywalker’s Father in Star Wars?

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace introduces us to Anakin Skywalker’s mother, Shmi Skywalker, when Anakin is just an adorable robot-building moppet. But just who is Anakin Skywalker’s father in Star Wars? 

Who Is Anakin Skywalker’s Father in Star Wars?

From a certain point of view, Emperor Palpatine is Anakin Skywalker’s father, and, at the very least, he willed Anakin into being. That’s heavily hinted at in the prequels and ultimately cemented in Star Wars canon by one of the Darth Vader comics.

In The Phantom Menace, when quizzed about Anakin’s father, Shmi claims that he didn’t have one. “There was no father, that I know of. I carried him. I gave him birth. I can’t explain what happened,” she says.

But the mystery is left unaddressed until Revenge of the Sith when Chancellor Palpatine, aka Darth Sidious, the evil mastermind behind the invasion of Naboo and the Clone Wars, is telling Anakin about the Darth Plagueis. 

“Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life,” he explained before saying how he also could use it to prevent people from dying.

Related: Star Wars: How Old Is Padmé Amidala in The Phantom Menace?

Yes, Anakin is an idiot for not spotting the huge red flag that Palpatine is addressing the nightmares he couldn’t possibly know about. But this all but confirms that Palpatine, whose master was Darth Plagueis, used this knowledge to create Anakin in the womb.

Darth Vader Volume 2, Issue 25 essentially makes this canon during a storyline when Vader steps into a sort of Sith spirit world. We’re treated to a delightfully creepy image of Palpatine standing behind Shmi Skywalker, a red spiral appearing on her belly.

Previously, Star Wars comics, books, games and so on were considered part of the Extended Universe, a lower tier of canon to the movies. But when Disney took over, they turned the Extended Universe into Legends, making it all non-canon. And from that point on, all official Star Wars books and comics were 100% canon, on a par with the movies. So, Darth Vader #25 is absolutely canon, along with creepy Daddy Palpatine.

Ultimately, while Palpatine may not have contributed his actual DNA to Anakin Skywalker, he was responsible for creating him. So, the answer to who Anakin Skywalker’s father is in Star Wars is Emperor Palpatine.